Method of preserving and packing eggs.



W. 'KULENKAMPFF. METHOD OF PRESERVING AND PACKING EGGS.

APPLIUATION FILED NOV. 4, 1911.

. r 3 V0 H m m n m m a d m m a (H P M Ma 3 .vv 4 A O 3 a 4m w (M 1 2% n 6 WALTHER KULENKAMPFF, OF MAGDEBURG, GERMANY.

METHOD .OF PBESERVING AND PACKING EGGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

1,oo3,ois.

Patented May 2 7, 1913.

Application filed November 4, 1911. Serial ii'o'. 658,588.

To all 'u-lzomit may concern Be it known that I, \Vaurnnn KULEN- KAMPFF, subject of the German Emperor, residing at Magdeburg, Germany, have invented a certain new anduseful Method of Preserving and Packing Eggs, of which the following is a specification.

The hitherto known, numerous methods for keeping eggs fresh suffer from the defects that the bacteria already present in the eggs w'ere either not removed at all or were only unsatisfactorily removed prior to the inclosing of the eggs in an impermeable envelop, or that even when the bacteria were removed for the moment, opportunity was afforded for fresh bacteria to enter the eggs '.again' during the subsequent storage and transport thereof. It was also not advantageous as ega rds the good taste of-the eggs and tlle boiling thereof, to permanently impregnate them partly internally and partly externally with foreign substances, which, moreover, caused the shells of the eggs to burst, when the latter were boiled.

The new method forming the subject of the present invention avoids these disadvantages by first removing the bacteria from the interior and exterior of the eggs, which are to be kept fresh and storing the eggs subsequently or simultaneously in a packing which is free from and proof against bacteriawithout any alteration being'perceptihle either in i he external appearance of the eggs or in their taste.

Described in detail the new method consists in dis'nfocting the eggs, (which may be previously cloaniah) both internally and externally by evacuating them in any well known manner and then treating them with a disinfecting agent, (formaldehydebeing the most couvcniciit), afterward filling them again with sterilizedair or some'suitable gas and finally packing and sorting them under the inliucnce of the evaporation of a moist disinfecting agentin a strong special envelop rendered proof against the entrance of bacteria. by imparting a suitable shape to it.

As is well known, the soft contents of. the.

raw egg do not completely fill up the ini'erior of the shell. but leave a space therein which is filled with air. The egg shell is porous, and the result thereofis, that the air in theinterior of the egg shell, en docs not already contain bacteria, is able to take them up from the external air or from the shell. a wrong proceeding to simply provide the eggs just as they are with an air tight covering, as has been so frequently done hit-herto. It is true. that the covering prevents the entrance of fresh bacteria laden air, but the bacteria previously present in the egg are alone sufficient to permit the process of putrefaction to begin and ithas therefore not been possible to obtain eggs effectively preserved from putrefact-ion in this way. Other experimenters their recognized that the air contained inthe interior of the egg and the bacteria contained in the interior thereof was the cause of the putrefaction.

The eggs were therefore evacuated and at tempts made to surround them with an impenetrable covering This treatment did not, however, yield the desired result. l inally mention may be made of an att-empt to fill up the air space in the eggswith a disinfecting agent. This proceeding did not yield the expected result either, because the disinfecting agent, when able to gradually evaporate through the egg shell, finally. became useless. The artificial scaling up of the eggshell is willingly avoided, because it causes the shells to burst in hot water.

The newmethod of preserving eggs yields -on the other hand a product which is entirely deprived of all possibility of putrefy ingv For this purpose the eggs are first washed in the usual way with soda or the like and .then evacuated. A disinfecting gas,preferably formaldehyde, is now intro It musttherefore be regarded as duced under pressure into the hollow space in the egg shell. its action sufficiently, it may be allowed to remain, or be drawn off, and sterilized air or some other sterilized inert gasp imped in in its place. lhe egg is consequently filled and no longer has any tendency to absorb air from its surroundings. After this the egg is dipped into a disinfecting liquid and After this gas has exerted taken out a ain without bein dried. The

'pores of the egg shell remain open. After the egg. has been removed from the disin fecting liquid with or-without precautions to keep it in a sterilized condition, it is now packed in an envelop which protects it from the approach of bacteria.v

It is not absolutely necessary the egg itself with a covering which is impermeable to air, but the egg mustbe sealed against the entrance offbacteria.

In the drawings Figures 1 and 2 Show, by

to surroundway of example and in transverse section, a two-part bacteria-proof protective envelop for Fig. 3 shows a tlitfei'ent constructional example for a bacteria-proof envelop. Figs. 4 to ti show more exactly the way in which the different stages of the sealing up of the protective envelop shown in Fig. 3 are carried out.

The entrance'or penetration of bacteria through or between the parts of closely folded sheets or plies is materially obstructed by the close association of the parts in forming the fold joint, and therefore a repeatedly creased and folded paper bag seal is obstructive proof against the free entrance ofbacteria, without requiring to be made airtight at all. F or this reason an egg-shaped envelop in two parts, with a ,sc1'ew-joint, may serve admirably as a bacteria-proof envelop, (see Figs. 1 and 2). it is not necessary to make a stiff envelop of this kind from a material impervious to bacilli, any

desired cheap material may be selected for this capsule a and it need only be lined internally with some material 7) such as paper, cloth or other sheet material treated in any referred manner to adapt it to perform the desired function and which incapable of taking up and is impermetble to bacilli. On account of the ditl'erences in the size of the eggs the capsule a. will be lined with a sterilized elastic filling substance (7, which may be used in the well known way to obtaina certain reserve supply of a moist disinfecting agent. lVhere it is not filled up by the egg itself, the hollow space inside the protective envelop will therefore be saturated with. vapors of the moist disinfecting agent. The disinfecting agent will not, how ever, pass through the open pores of the egg, because the egg itself and its own hollow space isfilled up by. its mass and the filling gas previously pumped into it, which gas may be sterilized air for example. This last mentioned circumstance is important for those who are opposed to the bringing of edible substances into contactwith chemicalproducts, even when these ;prod nets are ever so innocuous.

In the constructional example of a protective envelop for eggs shown in Figs. 3 to 6, the envelop is formed by laying the egg in the cen .ofan-open sterilized sheet of paper, the longitudinal edges of which are laid together, as shown in Fig. l and folded over. .The creasing of the long tudinal edges maybe repeated several tin'ies, as isshown in Figs. fi'ifand 6, until the creased paper strip'lies as .close as possible to he For the sake of clearness the various creases of the edge of the paper have been intentionally shown as being separated from each other, but in r ality the several layers of paper will lie close against each other. Figs. 4 to G of the drawings show the egg as seen in end viewand with both ends of the envelop open, the latter having at this stage a tubular form. The two ends of the tubular envelop are then closed up by twist-.

ngthem up after the manner of the wrapping papers used for oranges, as is shown in Fig. 3. llhese tightly twisted up ends of the paper and also the fold fastening are niaterially proof against the. entrance of bacteria on account of their manifold (raises and turns. 'terilized wood wool may also be used as a bacteria-proof envelop. The sin'iplicity of the packing of the eggs in the protective envelop is of importance, because unskilled labor on be employed for this work.

W'hat I claim is 1. The process for preserving which consi ts-in first disinfecting the clean eggs internally and externally by evacuating and then filling them with a g eous disinfectant, then rcg ilaeing the latter with an innocuous and finally packing them in a bacteria proof wrapper, substantially as described.

The process for preserving eggs, which consists infirst disinfecting the clean eggs internally and externally by e 'acuating and suliisetpumtly filling them wit h a gaseous (lisinfecta .t. then replacing the latter with an ioeuous gas. then dipping them in a liquid disinfectant, finally paciiiing them in a lh-act;eri:;-proof wrapper, substantially as described. I

3. Thv process for preserving eggs, which consists in .lirst' treating the with a disinfecting process and then packing them in bacteria-proofnwrappcrs lined on the inside with a sterilized absorbent material impregnated with disinfectant substance, substantially as des ribed.

4t. The process for preserving which consists in subje ting the clean eggs to a disinfecting proct w' and then packing them in bacteria-moot wrappers prepared from sterilized loose fibrous material, substantially as descril'ied. i

In testimony whereof I.have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

W A L'lll ER KU liltlNKit h'lllil \V'i tncsses Fiction GLEPUIIS, CHRISTIAN l mnrnion. 

